Happy New Year to all Loyal CCer's! And welcome to the first issue of 2010 and the first issue with our new name and graphics. I'd like to thank WidowMakers for putting a lot of effort in to make our new graphics

We've got a HUGE issue for you this week, lots of interesting news, information and stories for you to read, about your favourite gaming site Conquer Club.

If you would like to apply to join one of the teams below please fill out this simple form, and send it via PM to samuelc812. However, keep in mind that applications will be individually assessed. If you are not chosen to join the team now it does not mean you won't be in the future.

==========================================================Username:

Team you are interested in joining: (Tournaments, Foundry, Clans & Freestyle)

Any Additional Comments: (one or two lines in length describing why you think you are a good candidate)==========================================================

Tournament TeamTeam Leader - Night StrikeDescription - The Tournament Team will consist of 4-5 members who will all work as a team to put together the Tournament News for each issue. For example one reporter may do Currently Taking Sign-ups, another may do some sort of Hall of Fame section (these are just a few examples). The Team Leader will discuss with the rest of the team about what type of things they would like to include in their article. When the time comes, the Leader will consolidate the teams' contributions into the Tournament Article for that issue.

Foundry TeamTeam Leader - thenobodies80Description - The Foundry Team will consist of 4-5 members who will all work as a team to put together the Foundry News for each issue. For example one reporter may do Maps in Development, another may do some sort of Map Spotlight section (these are just a few examples). The Team Leader will discuss with the rest of the team about what type of things they would like to include in their article. When the time comes, the Leader will consolidate the teams' contributions into the Foundry Article for that issue.

Clan TeamTeam Leader - jpcloetDescription - The Clan Team will consist of 4-5 members who will all work as a team to put together the Clan News for each issue. For example one reporter may report on the Clan League, another may do some sort of Clan War Spotlight section (these are just a few examples). The Team Leader will discuss with the rest of the team about what type of things they would like to include in their article. When the time comes, the Leader will consolidate the teams' contributions into the Clan Article for that issue.

Freestyle TeamTeam Leader - nagerousDescription - The Freestyle Team will consist of more members than the other teams who will all work as a team to put together different little tidbits for the newsletter. For instance the interviews would fall under this category, as well as things like highlighting some Plug-Ins & Addons, Suggestions, Hot-Topics, General News as well as writing a perspective article like "A Newt's Tale" (these are just a few examples). This team will have unlimited possibilities to work with, and i'm sure this team will do great things. The Team Leader will discuss with the rest of the team about what type of things they would like to include in their article. When the time comes, the Leader will gather the teams' contibutions for that issue.

During the last couple weeks of 2009, Lindax collected nominations for the Best Tournament of 2009. After examining the list, 10 tournaments were chosen for a final vote. It is up to you readers and participants to choose which tournament and organizer should earn this recognition. You have until midnight GMT on January 10th to vote. Good luck to all the nominees!

This issue features a look back at 2009 by amazzony, and a list of some of the tournaments currently recruiting players by colton24. Editor's Note: We will not be listing every tournament in the newsletter, so your best shot at earning recognition (and assistance in recruiting players) is to put together a larger tournament. The more players you accept, the more likely your tournament will be noticed by the newsletter.

Tournament directors, players, and organizers are all saying that 2009 was a success for tournaments. A lot has happened in the past 12 months, and people consider it as good, if not even better, than previous years. Several updates were introduced by lackattack and the Tournament Directors, there was a change of Directors, records were set, and a huge amount of new tournaments were run, which also gave a chance for a lot of player to win. 862 tournaments were finished within the first 11 months of 2009. Although we are missing the December data, Gilligan said December most likely had over 100 finished tournaments, which would be record breaking (current record is 99 finished tournaments in November 2009). Compared to 2008 (460 finished tournaments), more than twice as many tournaments were finished. A big contribution to this has been made by barterer2002 who has completed the most tournaments (currently ~90 and with all of his active ones it's over 100). He also keeps the record of most tournament games created, at a bit under 9000 games.

By February, the Tournament Directors had put their heads together and come up with new polices for Franchised and International tournaments. Also several cool tags were introduced that would make running tournaments smoother. Not much later, on February 24th, a big step was taken when Tournament Winner Medals started coming out (medals for organizers had been given out since June 2008). Gilligan’s comment: "Way back when, we got Tournament Winner medals - so we created the BBCode for 800 of 'em. Then we distributed 800 of 'em." Multiple Tournament Winners is lead by Blitzaholic with 55 wins, followed by HighlanderAttack (44) and killmanic (37).

September 8 was a bittersweet day. Natewolfman, a much loved organizer and director had to leave the virtual CC war for the real war in Iraq. In order to get back to having 4 Tournament Directors, Lindax joined the team. In September, the Tournament Organizers Usergroup got a small update with new leadership and way of handling things. On November 16th, The Fuzzy Pengui joined the tournament team to give a hand to Gilligan with the Tournament Hall of Fame because, as Gilligan said, "Tournaments finish too quickly for me to keep up with them!" and then added "Keep it [running tournaments] up, just not too up to make me and Fuzzo go out of our minds."

Happy New Years CC!A new year of mapmaking begins, Foundry has finally reopened its doors with some small changes as announced by MrBenn.In this issue, after a last look at 2009, we immediately jump on more recent news with an update about the Germany Revamp competition and a small interview with the new Foundry Moderator, Evil DIMwit . For this issue we have also a sharped editorial and a new "useful toy" in the Foundry Stuff section.We hope you enjoy it.

Just like that, another year has come and gone. Lets take a look back at the maps that were forged by the artisans of the foundry for your enjoyment.

British Isles(REVAMP)by gimil and lanyardsThis revamp of one of CC's oldest and most beloved map was a yearlong project by gimil.

keane wrote:I'd just like to add that I think this is a great map (although my own county isn't named ) and that I've enjoyed every game I've played on this map so far - win or lose! Thank you to all who played a part in creating it.

Cairns Metroby cairnswkThis is the sister map for Cairnswk's "Cairns Coral Coast" featuring the Cairns City environs. Designed with road-side signage in mind, players will have to fight their way through the suburbs of Cairns and surrounding areas and even conquer Cairnswk's home at Holloways Beach.

WWI Ottoman Empireby cairnswk In WWI, the Ottoman Empire blocked the British and other members of the Entente from linking with Russia thereby disrupting military supplies from assisting the Russian Cause. Fight your way across the Anatolian Peninsula and the Sands of the Middle East to conquer all. This map holds the honor of first WWI map on CC.

USA Map PackUSA Great Lakes. USA New England, USA Rockies, USA Southeast, USA West by WidowMakers These maps are based on the region of the same name from the original Conquer Club USA map. The maps are divided into state, interstate and capital bonus groups. Altogether there are six maps designed as a pack to be played together in tournament form (but can be played individually as well).

stlpete77 wrote:Just wanted to say I LOVE these maps, in particular southeast. 90-95% of the games I play on here I play using one of these maps.

France 1789by pamoaThis map is based on the french kingdom territorial division the day before the revolution of july 1789, in addition with Nice, Savoie, Venaissin and Montbéliard as they were not part of France at that time.

Walesby MrBennThis map boasts a unique type of gameplay with the introduction of the original idea, "Shires." The idea is that there are 2 groups (a CLAN and Settlement) within a Shire, and each are battling for control.

San Marinoby Ruben Cassar, yeti_c, and MrBenn Another small yet very stylish map by Ruben Cassar. While being average size this map has plenty of bonuses that should be easy to get and hold onto.

Eastern Hemisphereby oaktownThis map shows the far side of the world around 1910! It's the time when the great European empires are crumbling, and the creator has worked hard on making gameplay appropriate to the time setting

Indian Empireby oaktownThis map of 1800's India under British rule started as oak's submission in the Brazil REVAMP competition, the book style was taken from an attempt at Japan onto this, and it looks simply incredible!

Greenlandby the.killing.44.44's first map was released after only 3 months in the foundry! Based on the world's largest independent island, Greenland goes by its chilly-blue theme, and a polar bear to top it off!

GeneralFault wrote:played the map today, for the first time. absolutely loved it ! It has a beautiful design. thanks for the hard work

Castle Landsby pikkio & thenobodies80The second map from this great duo, Castle Lands, based off of an RPG style theme executed brilliantly.

Poison Romeby cairnswkThis map is a bit tricky, based off the Julio-Claudian family in Ancient Rome, as it's filled with connections and bonuses. It was subject to some heated debate after reaching the Final Forge stage,

Gilgameshby oaktownThis map project began as an entry to Centerscape (now Midgard) competition, then became a map about the ancient Mesopotamia. With classic gameplay and wonderful graphics Oaktown has created another masterpiece.

saaimen wrote:Woohoo! I've been waiting for this moment ever since you entered the Centerscape revamp competition.

Route 66by oaktownThis map about americas main street is done as a stylized postcard on a diner table. Playing this map is as much fun as looking at it. Get your kicks playing Route 66!

Das Schloßby cairnswkThis map is one of the more creative and complicated maps the foundry has seen. It isn't difficult to imagine that in would see its share of changes and updates. After 40 versions and months of gameplay tinkering it appears as if this map may soon again be available for playing.

Shatners Bassoon wrote:All i want for Christmas.......

Classic Revampby sully800One of the highlights of the foundry this past year was the Classic map revamp. It started out as World Cities but it soon transformed into a replacement for the aging classic map. sully800's new map is a perfect marriage of the game-play that started it all with refreshing new graphics that do justice to this classic game.

MajorRT wrote:FINALLY!!! and it does look "classic" !

Special thanks to the Map Info database and authors of past foundry newsletter articles for their comments and insights on the maps of 2009.

Germany Revamp Contest

WidowMakers wrote:BEST REVAMP CONTEST EVER.

Due to a less than warm reception of the original Germany revamp, the boys in blue have decided to settle the issue foundry style, with a little competition. Perhaps because the foundry was closed, or perhaps just because everyone loves a good competition, but there were a whopping 9 entries, all of which were high quality. All the great maps can be seen below, along with their letter, and number of votes. People were allowed to vote for two entries each, and with a total of 574 votes cast, it is clear that a runoff will be needed. Map F, which uses stunning color palate and rough textures, is in second place, behind entry I, which has the appearance of being on a old forgotten map, kept in a box in your grandfather's attic. Map Thumbnails:

A: B: C:D: E: F:G: H: I:

I took some opinions from the thread for those of you who didn't get a chance to make your way in there :

Map F:- Stunning! The legend is wonderful, of course, and the overall style and texture is great.

F and I are sweeping the votes because they are the two best renditions

I really want to know who did map F. The title is great. A little dark but great.

I can find at least 4 options (5 if you include the original revamp) that fit my eyes, but I had to give 2 votes . . . I liked options E (very clean but darky) & G (nice colours combination but the impassables look too rigid imo) a lot, but my votes went for F & I...

As many of you know, Evil DIMwit has started his career as a new Foundry moderator. He will be starting as soon as the Foundry reopens again, as announced by MrBenn in January 5th.

A couple of questions for Evil DIMwit:

Q: How did you get interested about the Foundry and mapmaking?

A: I've always been sort of an amateur game creator. I used to make board games out of poster board when I was little -- come to think of it, I never played any of them so I don't know if they were any good. In any case, when I joined Conquer Club it didn't take me long to gravitate to the place where maps came from.

Q: Why did you decide to apply for a Foundry moderator?

A: Actually, Mr. Benn invited me -- I think because I'm old -- and I accepted largely because I like map development, I like seeing the Foundry run along smoothly, and I've got more or less plenty of free time.

Q: You will be working in a new section of the Foundry called "Gameplay workshop". Which maps' gameplay do you like most?

A: Y'know, I like creating complex and innovative gameplay (some of which you may get to see one of these days) but as far as actually playing maps, I tend to end up going with simpler, more classic gameplay. I've got a warm place in my heart for Great Lakes, and also for Europe 1914.

Q: How do you feel about the changes made in the Foundry during this revamp?

A: The new format and processes look like they might streamline map creation a bit, but really, it's all about the people. There's no replacement for thoughtful contribution, and no amount of forum shuffling can make up the work of a dedicated cartography team. Fortunately it looks like we've got a good gang of Foundrygoers, and the Blue Team and I will do our best to keep the Foundry productive, and more importantly fun.

Q: PS. Congratulations on becoming a Foundry moderator!

A: PS, Congratulations on becoming a Newsletter interviewer.

The Foundry News team offers thanks to Evil DIMwit for taking the time to submit to this short interview. And once again, congratulations for filling yet another pair of Blue Shoes!

Recently I have seen it claimed that the Map Foundry is stifling creativity in art and gameplay and churning out nothing but cookie-cutter or otherwise “favored” maps. To that I say one simple and unedited word: bullshit. The Foundry has been putting out nothing but the greatest variety of maps possible ever since its inception, all while increasing the quality of newer maps substantially.

The claim is three-fold: that there is very similar gameplay, fairly similar graphics, and/or worst of all, favored maps and makers who are practically guaranteed success purely by name. I'm going to dispel these one at a time, with photographic “evidence,” as it were.

First up is very similar gameplay. Let's compare two random maps (I tossed range 1-145 at random.org, everyone's favorite randomizer, then counted from the top of the Maps page on CC): France 1789 by pamoa and First Nations of North America by Tisha. Both of them have Classic gameplay for the most part, which is to say that it's an assortment of bonus regions connected to each other or separated by impassables. But that's about it, really. First Nations is significantly larger than France 1789, necessitating an entirely different gameplay style. I don't even need to consider whether they have similar connections.

So similar gameplay is right out, what about similar graphics? Again, a random survey of two maps picks out City Mogul by DiM and Egypt: Nubia, by cairnswk. One's a blueprint and another's a geographical layout of the far south of the Nile. About the only similarity is the use of colors to denote bonus region.

But maybe random.org was being generous. I could have gotten “lucky,” so why not play some Devil's Advocate for the sake of argument? Consider the Age of Realms series (1, 2, and 3), all by DiM? Dissimilar graphics, heck, even dissimilar gameplay. They technically take place on the same landmass, but they barely play the same. I see variety even within the same map series (and the same can be said of the other three notable series on CC: Egypt by cairnswk, USA Map Pack by WidowMakers, and the three WWII Europe maps by qwert).

The last claim is that there are favored maps, and by extension, mapmakers in the Foundry. You know, the standard claim of elitism. Going over to chipv's excellent Map Database, I count 66 different people involved with the development of a quenched map on CC. And that doesn't include the duplicates of three of the more active mapmakers. For 139 maps, that's fairly good, especially knowing that cairnswk refuses to stop making maps even after he's over the 20 mark. What's even more striking is that once you get past the likes of cairns and WidowMakers (the reigning revamp king), holding down 40 map credits between the two of them (including their collaboration on Rail USA), the diversity of mapmakers per map increases drastically (99 for 64 people). For the mathematically inclined, that's 1.55 maps per person over the entire Foundry's history, a trend that I would say is increasing. (Disclaimer: the database does not include the latest 6 maps to go live)

So where's the lack of variety, really? I see nothing but variety all over the place. It's the spice of life, and it's the spice of CC as well.

TaCktiX is an off-and-on mapmaker, presently engaged with a protracted romance with the Air Force training regimen. He was the former Senior Editor of the Foundry Newsletter, and quenched the map The Citadel.

Description:Set in futuristic America divided by a devastating civil war,it looks like a nice alternative to the current maps of the same region. A classic gameplay with an extra bonus for capitals.Present Development:Waiting the xml stamp

Description: Atlantis is shrouded in mystery with a mythical history of warefare, prosperity and misfortune. Prepare yourself to play on it before it sinks into the ocean "in a single day and night of misfortune" again...Present Development:The map is almost ready for the xml stamp, only some coordinates to fix.

Description: Retrace the footsteps of great explorers, and plant your flag claiming the land. A conquest style map, when it is ready you'll be able to fight and prevail on every continent.Present Development:The xml is almost done, just waiting for the final small image

Description: Take an island adventure Jamaican style. This map 42 areas including pirate ports and supplies. Collect the supplies to gain on your attackers to help you conquer it all!Present Development:Beta

Description: The next stage in the journey through the land of Feudal! Where battles will be more fierce, hardended and epic than ever before. Take your castles, expand your land, conquer foreign kingdoms. Show to the others who is the king!Present Development:Beta

Chipv has done it again. A brilliant new tool has been introduced: The Map XML Wizard. No more hours of boring work writing XML files by hand!

What are XML:s? An XML file is a kind of a database. They can be used for many purposes, but here in Conquer Club they are used to save all the information of a map: basically, it's what makes a normal image file into a playable CC map.

XML Wizard provides a convenient browser-based interface for creating and editing XML files for your maps. It supports all the main features required for XML:s of most maps: starting positions, (killer) neutrals, autodeploys... you name it. Coordinates are easily set with a click of the mouse, and fine-tuned with the cursor keys.

Some comments from the Foundry regulars:

Industrial Helix wrote:Very nice indeed. I look forward to using this. Nice work and thanks for the contribution!

captainWalrus wrote:It is amazing! I did the xml for the Africa map (the small version only) in literally 20 minutes! Holy shit!

EvilDIMwit wrote:Nooo... My immaculate perl skills are useless now

So now that XML has been made easy, the only question remains, what will we do with the second mapmaking medal awarded for each map? I guess time will tell.

All in all, Chipv has done a great job with this tool. 2010 will certainly be an interesting year for mapmakers.

There are some critiques however. For those with smaller screens, placing the coordinates on the large image proves troublesome, as the map image cannot be scrolled sideways. The maker seems responsive to feedback though, so I expect the problem to be fixed in the near future.

For those interested, the thread for the XML Wizard can be found here:

2009 started off strong (Jan 17th) with the first ever Clan League which featured 15 of the top clans on the site. The League completed in August with clans like THOTA, LOW, and TSM showing why they were considered elite clans on the site. The league was played on all privately created games and is the largest known private league/tournament on the site at 1350 games.

February saw the addition of the second Clan Director to TeamCC in jpcloet joining the lone CD at the time in Marval. Together, they continue to grow the clan areas on the site, including co-hosting the ongoing Season 2 of the Clan League.

Given the success of Clans on the site, it was time to take the next step and become a mainstay of the site. In Phase Two of the forum reorganization (July 3rd), the Clans got their sub-forum promoted to the main stage. This has helped clans and social groups to grow on the site and also to help differentiate and clarify the two types of groups.

The growth of clans can be clearly noted in the number of wars and games played by clans against one another. 2008 saw around 1000 games between clans. In 2009, including the leagues, the clans played over 4000 games against one another.

Clans come and go for various reasons like inactive members and/or leaders. We lost the following long-standing clans this year:The Untouchables, Sky Force, Warlords of the Wort, and The Regulators.

The Clan Leaders Association worked on a number of things in 2009. The group's purpose is to discuss clan issues and most of the work revolved this year around measurement tools, aka Clan Ladders. A very difficult topic when you consider that the BCS for College Football is also continually criticized. Realizing that each ladder had a weakness, we tried several versions including ELO, RPI, and a Class based version to get the best measure we could. Each ladder had tweaks from penalties for defaults, to weightings for challenge size. Other items discussed included additional basic challenge agreements such as No Beta, No Manual, and No Nuclear. In addition to these agreements, some challenges started to see more usage of No 1v1 and No map repeats similar to the Leagues.

Other Notable Events:

THOTA vs LOW war pitting No1 and No2 ranked clans in a close war

TOFU sportsmanship in declining a play in battle allowing Nemesis to join Division 1 of Season 2 Clan League

Legion of the Damned became Angels of Death after parting ways with the last remaining founder

In our last report the monki's had finally pushed a slight lead of 17-14 over the horsemen, and every game since has gone down to the wire, including a split of two no cards trips games that went 22 and 17 rounds, respectively. The epic battle between these two legendary clans has certainly lived up to the prematch hype.

Big Whiskey wrote:So far it's exactly what I expected.Every game has been close.Each clan has outstanding players that I hold a lot of respect for.I think it will go down to the wire with only a couple of games deciding the winner.

Indeed it has been close all along, but at the midway point in the match, the monkis have opened up a four-game lead, 18-22. THOTA is looking to avoid their first loss after an unprecedented run as CC's top clan, including a 7-0 record in challenges and the victory in the first clan league season. Round 3 starts on January 6, so visit the official challenge thread to check out all the action.

Featured Clan Wars: Kort vs. The Brethren

There have been many great clan wars in recent months, but the challenge between the Knights of the Round Table (Kort) and the Brethren of the Fat Mermaid (Brethren), two relatively new clans still looking to make their marks on the clan ladder, has stood out due to the clans involved and the surprising result.

Despite its youth, Kort fields a formidable lineup that seems destined to break into the top ten, if not higher. A quick glance at their roster and one sees former conquerors sjnap and karelpietertje, along with other top players such as loes, steve066, and plugin guru chipV. However, Kort's first challenge did not go according to script, ending in a 15-15 tie against Generation 1, a top ten clan that nevertheless was expected to lose by most observers. The two clans were unable to come to terms on a tiebreaker, so the challenge stands as one of the few to ever end in a tie, despite most clan wars comprising an even number of games. In spite of this setback, Kort is currently second in Division 1A of the second season of the clan challenge.

The Brethren also field a strong lineup, including BoganGod, Draq, and GallantPellham. The brethren had recently come off of a hard fought loss to mythology, 16-24. It appeared that the brethren would be an underdog, but with the talent that they had in their lineup it could have easily swung in their favor.

Kort drew first blood, and then won the second game. Then Kort began to run away with it, running the score to 12-1 before the brethren finally pulled off a few wins to get it to 16-5. The lopsided score was as big of a surprise as Kort's earlier underwhelming performance:

chemefreak wrote:I thought this would be a lot closer. But, it does take some time to get to know your clan mates and to play well in team games. Keep your head up BOFM! Nice work KORT.

Bruceswar wrote:In all Honesty these guys have played really hard. We just have the luck with is in this one.

At one point in December the score was 26-7, and the wheels started to come off a bit for the Brethren:

Its really annoying that I warned my team mates about that would happen if they didn’t watch out.

After throwing his teammates under the bus, Brann was ejected from the clan. The clan war continued, with Kort offering the CC equivalent of the mercy rule and the Brethren deciding to fight it out to the finish:

Foxglove wrote:we wanted to stop at 40 games, but they insisted on continuing. And then they tried harder, and won more

The Brethren won 10 of their next 18 games, a noble effort in a losing cause, as the score currently stands at 34-17, giving Kort the win in the 60-game challenge. Congratulations to this up-and-coming clan on their first victory.

When asked for comment, BoganGod made no excuses:

BoganGod wrote:They won fair and square... very well done on their part...

When pressed further for reasons for such a blow out, he added this:

BoganGod wrote:Firstly - The clan in its current form, is relatively newSecondly - FrancisBoyle who normally does most of the organisational heavy lifting is studying

BoganGod's comment is worth discussing further, as a clan needs a person to put together teams that will work well together, some who knows what maps each player can play, someone who is willing to go back and change games and teams so that everyone feels confident with their assigned teammates. For TSM this person is Laddida. No doubt without him we would not have had nearly the success we’ve had in our current clan war (see above). So this should be a lesson to newly forming clans. More than just good players are needed. It takes a person who knows the players in a clan, who can deal with all the behind the scenes bickering, and who can still field good teams to take on the enemy.

Double Time

Two notable clans have been doing double time. The Odd Fellows Union (TOFU), the core of which is made up of former members of Legends of War, recently prevailed in two simultaneous challenges, all while destroying all comers in Division 2B of the clan league. They defeated Mythology 30-10 and Generation1 25-14 (with one game remaining), two very impressive victories over two strong clans. With challenges against the Angels of Death and possibly THOTA on the docket for the first half of 2010, TOFU could be challenging for the top spot on the ladder in the not-too-distant future.

Another clan doing double time is fifth-ranked Empire; also playing two clan wars and the clan league simultaneously. Like TOFU, Empire won both their challenges, with a resounding 41-23 win over Nemesis and a 35-22 (with three games remaining) win over Agents of Chaos.

Other Top Scores

Outlaws and Highwaymen have a surprising 16 to 8 lead over second-ranked Legends of War. An O&H victory, while not assured, would certainly be one of the biggest upsets in CC clan history. Meanwhile, the Immortal Assassins and Imperial Dragoons (ranked #4 and #7, respectively), are tied at ten apiece, with the challenge shortly to resume after a holiday break.

A lot has happened this fortnight in CC land, from the crazy Battle Royales, to the introduction to nuclear spoils. This week in the Mess Hall, a Newts' Tale with elfish_lad returns and we also have Army of GOD providing his views on top 5 topics of the week. Of course we also have our regular interview, this week with MarVal. Hope you enjoy it! Cya next time, Nagerous

I was having a really hard time thinking of what to write for an article. Really. I was. Then it hit me: The Elf is getting too comfortable. I was holding rank. Plodding along. Dreaming life away while picturing that glorious moment when I hit major for the first time. A nice set of swords. Sweet. It would be awesome. I could finally get that navy blue Union Cavalry Solider outfit I’ve been eying. (Sex-EEE) But who wants to hear about that?

Hmmph. I tried thinking harder. Then I tried thinking really harderer. But no article would come. At all. Zip. Zero. Zilch. I was going to give up on the writing of the article gig. I know. Who cares. Well… The Elf cares. I enjoy doing this kind of thing. Of course I also liked English Composition in school, but that’s another story for another time. Well, mainly I was in lust with the English Composition teacher who was hot and had these really… right. Moving on.

So I was in a funk. Not the really cool Funk. Like Earth Wind and Fire kinda Funk. That is funking awesome Funk. I mean the “dark cloud over my head and I bet it’s going to rain and sure enough I told you so” kind of funk. Then it hit me: The Elf had gotten bored. And, boys and girls, this is what I did…

~dreamy story time music plays~

Once upon a time and one morning, I got up at the crack of early and started to boot up 1v1 games in casual mode. I threw 10 on the board. I figured I would meet some new folk and that I would check to see if anybody joined at lunch. All 10 filled in 5 minutes. So I took my turn. Figured I would check the games at… everyone else took their turns as well. So I took my… wait a second… holy “ship that’s sinking like The Elf’s rank”!!! There are Real Time Players out there in the mornings!!!! So I booted up… okay, I don’t really know. Some crazy number of games. I was playing them like Speed Crack and had at least 20 going at a time! It was amazing! It was thrilling! I got my arse handed back to me like a sack full of barf (okay, I have no idea what that means really) and I dropped like 300 points in an hour because I had no idea whatsoever was going on! I was clicking “jump to your next playable game” like a freak. I would jump into a room, come up with a vague notion of what the hell was going on and role those screwed up assault cubes like a mother. I started having a blast.**

I’ll never do it again and it was awesome! Liberating! And exhausting!!! 50 times better than Speed Crack cause if you gotta pee you just walk away for 12 to 15 minutes and come back.

Yeah. I had been holding it for quite some time. Ouch.

And I was laughing my tail off while I was playing. Like I used to do when I first joined. And having fun. Damn fun. It was 6:30 AM on the Rain Coast and I was having a hoot. So what happened do you think? I have no clue really. But I know the outcome: against my better sense I had begun to take it all too seriously. And that sucks.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m going to play hard. And listen to my pards. (Unless you start flippin me the bird and then you can just sod off.) And learn from other players and my own mistakes. But that’s it. I gotta expand my horizons here.

In the end I think there are other ways for me to have fun here at CC. Like the tournaments I’ve just joined. And the Clan that took my weak-sauce self on. And my new trips pards that I randomly met and writing goofy crap like this.

Phew! If you were one of the folks with me in those real time “slaughter The Elf" festival games, thanks for the rush and you will never see me again… maybe. So enjoy the points and thanks for the fun.

Now I’m off. Gotta finish a couple of games. There about 6 of those early morning rush games that didn’t get completed before my wife kicked me out of the house to go to work. I’ll probably win those. Cause I’m paying attention. And not laughing like a hyena. Although you never know. And that’s the awesome thing about CC. You never can tell what will happen. Like Grumpy Elf getting the juice back at 6:30 in the morning. Sweet.

E.

**Crap. I just realized. Could this mean it is time to get off my high horse and learn clickies and freestyle? Crap. I'm gonna hate eating my words. Gonna taste like... crap! BarK! Cackle-Cackle! Bark-Bark!!

Q. What does your name stand for?Nice to begin with So the beginning is a abbreviation of my first name

Q. What attracted you to Conquer Club in the first place?I'm a huge fan of the boardgame Risk. But you got older and then the board game Risk and it became less famous playing with family and/or friends = More card games, especially poker.So I search the internet for PC Risk games and found besides some PC Risk games an online multiplayer world domination game, called Conquer Club. And it was love at first sight

Q. What attracted you to joining the moderating team?There were in the past a lot of discussions on the Dutch language forum "de Veroveraars Club" about the issue of having a moderator for this language forum who talks and understand Dutch. So he or she can have better control of moderating the language forum concerning violating the Community Guidelines

Q. What do you prefer moderating, the international forums or the clan forums?I prefer them both. This year I hope to do more for the international forums (if possible). And for the Clan forums I have a great Clan Director mate: jpcloet. What would I do without him

Q. What are your reasons for deciding to create a clan only for Dutch members? Has this been a success in clan wars and popularity?First of all, it is not only a clan for Dutch members. Its for all the members who speaks Dutch. So besides members from the Netherlands we also welcome i.e. Belgium members and Surinam members. A year and a half ago there was a member from South-Africa who wanted to be a member. But a pity I forgot the name of him and never found the PM conversation back Concerning success you can find the results on the clan forums. And population is "comme ci comme ça"

Q. What are your views on Holland's drug policy?No comments

Q. Is the moderating the International forums on your own a struggle, or do you find there isn't much work? There are some people who helps me on the international forums. Members who speak the language of those forums and inform me if there are problems

Q. Can you actually speak all the languages of all the forums?No, I can't speak them all.

Q. What is more annoying---people that do not care to learn your language, or those that completely butcher the language in speech/writing?I have no problem with both. in the Netherlands you learn on school besides your own language also English and other languages, such as German and French

Q. What is it that you find most interesting about Clans/Usergroups?Most interesting is that someday you have an [Official] Clan handbook, so every member knows the different between Clans and Usergroups.Interesting for clans is the wiliness to go on the edge for your clan in Clan games, tournaments, challenges and so on.Interesting for Usergroups is that they have something in common and are willing to share it with each other.

Q. Did you encounter any limitations or issues when you first started playing Conquer Club, that were the result of your internationality?No, not a problem at all

Q. Why are you currently in Bosnie and why did you drop below 1000 points?I dropped below 1000, because of bad dices and bad cards

Q. Tulips or Windmills? Windmills

Q. What's your opinion of JP Balkenende?He is a follower

Q. You are doing a lot of things for CC. How much time do you spend on average pro day on CC?If my wife would answer: too much

Q. Do you have any future plans to create another map, to top your BeNeLux map?I had one in progress ended on 04 Feb 2009:- België: Battle of Languages on viewtopic.php?f=242&t=73233

But I made a few days ago a new fresh start with it and I hope members will like the new UPDATE. I hope MrBenn likes it and can lift it out of the recycle bin

Q. Do you think Conquer Club is popular in the BeNeLux region? If so, why is it do you think?I think its very popular. You can see it in the amounts of post and views in de Dutch language forum "De Veroveraars Club". And on the high ranked Dutch/Belgium members on the scoreboard

Q. What are some of the main things that occupy your time---outside of Conquer Club related activities?My family

Q. What do you like more, Map Making, Creating Tournaments or being a Clan leader?I like everything I do for CC and its members

Q. Would you appreciate the site to be truly multilingual?I hope I can make a start with it for the Dutch speaking members

Q. Do you actually try to keep up with all the international fora?Yes, I try as much as I can to keep it up

Q. Who would you suggest CC interviews next? Why ?I suggest jefjef, because I wonder how pirates of The Brethren of the Fat Mermaid can conquer the world of CC

Q. Do you play X-Box live?No, only sometimes Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS and Playstation and off course PC games. But with CC not a lot of free time left over during the evenings

Q. Why do you post in Star Wars fans so little?Its a shame, I know Too much to do on CC, so little time.... Sorry vodean

If you have a story you think the ConquerClub Community would find interesting, you can submit your articles to samuelc812 or nagerous. If the CC Dispatch Team enjoy it than you may just see your article published in the Newsletter!

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Wow. I kind of drifted away before and after Christmas. I knew there was a rework of the layout planed but lost touch with its progress. I really like the direction the new layout is going. Nice job WidowMakers!!! Great stuff. And welcome new news-team folk great to have you adding your stuff.

Very enjoyable issue, striking a good balance between information and brevity.

Now let me be the first to ask: why is LackAttack issuing dispatches from a desert location some 37 km NE of Erldunda, NT, Australia? I see a square feature on the ground (a corral? a stand of trees?) perhaps another kilometer or two further NE, but it looks pretty bleak. (Holy moley, there is a Google Street View on the nearest highway , but it is much too far to see anything )

(You know, this might be an opportunity for a competition: change the coordinates with every newsletter and we can play "Where in the World is LackAttack, and why isn't he at home updating the site???"

p.s.- been waiting for a trophy update, sure would like to see my tournament victory acknowledged, seeing as how I pretty much stink lately.

I don't have plans for including tournament winners in the newsletter. It just eats up space. If someone wishes to compile those, your time would be better served helping Gilligan get the Hall of Fame kept up-to-date.

ender516 wrote:Very enjoyable issue, striking a good balance between information and brevity.

Now let me be the first to ask: why is LackAttack issuing dispatches from a desert location some 37 km NE of Erldunda, NT, Australia? I see a square feature on the ground (a corral? a stand of trees?) perhaps another kilometer or two further NE, but it looks pretty bleak. (Holy moley, there is a Google Street View on the nearest highway , but it is much too far to see anything )

(You know, this might be an opportunity for a competition: change the coordinates with every newsletter and we can play "Where in the World is LackAttack, and why isn't he at home updating the site???"

Kudos to everyone involved in this new newsletter

That was actually my plan.

Also, each sub header has a different form number as well. But those are very cryptic and most likely never understood accept by me.

I am sure we can hide little graphical things in the headers from time to time.Glad you like the new look.